Nightmares
by Kyla45
Summary: And suddenly, Naruto's nightmares didn’t seem like a trifling something. Oneshot. Naruto & Sasuke. Re-vamped


Naruto was late, as usual, but something about his presence made even Sakura divert her attention from Sasuke.

" Naruto...you look...are you alright?" Her tone of annoyance, usually reserved especially for Naruto, was gone from her voice, instead replaced with a faltering, tentative concern.

Sasuke looked at the sky, uninterested in the current unraveling of events.

Naruto smiled, and for once, it couldn't hide him away.

" I'm fine, Sakura-chan, just fine" he said, laughing a little. His voice was too strained and groggy to count as a 'laugh,' but Naruto was nothing if not determined.

" Well...if you say so," she gazed with disbelief at him, worrying and not buying a word he said.

And how could she? His hair was messier than usual, his face was pale, and there were dark, noticeable circles under his eyes, almost like garish bruises. Most of all, his expression wasn't sunny, wasn't happy. He could barely conceal it, and that worried Sakura more than anything.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Kakashi appeared in front of them, raising a hand nonchalantly in greeting.

" Yo! Sorry I'm late, there was this poor little bunny..."

Sakura cut him off with a 'yeah right!', but Naruto didn't join in with the ranting.

Kakashi sighed over exaggeratedly. " If you're quite finished, on to the good news. Today we'll be training with genjutsu."

No groan of protest from Naruto. Kakashi looked at the boy in surprise, giving him a once over.

" Oi, Naruto, what've you got there?" Kakashi asked at last.

" Hm? This? Coffee." He cradled the foam cup in his hands reverently, almost tenderly.

Kakashi looked caught between being amused and skeptical, but shrugged it off.

" Alright kids, listen up. I'll be using a genjutsu on each of you. It's specially designed to bring out fear. Could be a passing fear, or something concrete and old. This genjutsu is going to help you learn to deal with fear. On the battlefield, a ninja can't afford to hesitate, much less succumb to terror and freeze up. Ninja have to be physically strong, but a steeled mind is just as important. I want you all to overcome fear; you can still be scared, but that doesn't mean you let it control you. Got it? So, who's first?"

All three genin stared at their Sensei, reluctant.

" No volunteers, huh? Let's see...how about you, Naruto?"

He nodded, no protest leaving his lips. He took a quick swig of coffee, wiping his sleeve across his mouth. Yawning as he stepped forward, his face was a mask of stubborn courage and pride.

" Ready?" Kakashi asked, already executing flawless, complicated hand signs.

Naruto stared at his hands, and gradually, the world around him seemed to melt into a different location.

He looked around him, his eyes heavy and his expression dull. The scenery wasn't scary, he thought. The trees filtered rays of sunlight and made everything soft and calm. He wondered when he was supposed to be scared--

Before he could even fully register it, there was someone right in front of him, close enough to touch.

" Na..ru..to." It was loud and quiet, strained and garbled and _grotesque_, it was dissonant, it hurt Naruto's ears.

Naruto's pupils contracted, but he couldn't look away, he couldn't. His face was suddenly alive and disfigured with terror. His eyes welled with unwanted, fat tears and he started to scream. _Really scream_. His breathing was erratic, and he couldn't regulate it, couldn't control it. His eyes were blurry, but he could still _see._ His hands desperately scratched at his face, tugged hard on his hair. There was a crushing weight on his chest that sent him plummeting down, his legs turning to rubber and he couldn't see the green leaves or sun anymore. He was frantic now, but he couldn't negate the pain with his nails or his teeth or his fists or his voice.

_No, no._

He was on his knees, hunched over instinctually, clutching his face, messily covering his eyes. _Why hadn't he thought of it before?_ Make it dark, he didn't want to _see_, God damn it!

" Naruto!" came the sharp voice of Kakashi. " Naruto!" The blond could feel hands on his shoulders, roughly shaking him. Were those his screams? He told himself to stop, and there was silence. He scrunched his eyes, prying them open, barely able to focus for the deafening pounding of his heartbeat. The world around him was friendly again.

But why, why did he have to see _that?_ Naruto felt like screaming, this time in anger. Why, why, _fuck_, why?! He lifted his head, and the friendly world slapped him in the face, and his anger drained away as quickly as it had come.

Sakura was staring at him, openly shocked and scared, and Sasuke looked surprised. Kakashi was kneeling in front of him, swimming in his vision, a hint of worry on his face.

Naruto breathed heavily, willing himself to get it together. There was a slight tingle in his nose that still caused tears to sting his eyes. He told himself to stop trembling, and balled his fists in the effort. His eyes skirted the ground nervously, and he had to fight the impulse to close them to avoid the weight of the stares. Not only was he really not liking this genjutsu, but he'd _really_ made an insane clown out of himself just now.

He leaned back, slumping into a protected, defeated position, face impossibly pale. All his anger came back, and he thought _pathetic, pathetic_ and finally stopped shaking. His eyes turned cold and distant; _unrevealing_. He glared off to the side.

" So," Kakashi drawled, standing up to face Sakura and Sasuke. " Who's next?"

Both remaining genin of Team 7 looked very unwilling.

Kakashi sighed, took one more look at Naruto, and then spoke. " I think lunch would serve as an appropriate break. Sakura, come with me. Sasuke, stay here with him," he said, jerking his thumb in the direction of the blond.

Sasuke looked annoyed, but stayed stationary when the two headed towards the village.

The raven glanced at his teammate. He looked absolutely horrible. And pissed.

" What was that about, loser? Did you see a bowl of ramen trying to eat you instead of the other way around?"

Naruto turned his head to the other boy. His look conveyed nothing, his features carefully composed. There was no emotion, no anger, no annoyance, no _Naruto_.

Finally, he made an initiative to respond. " Mhm," he grunted curtly, voice hard.

Sasuke was curious about the boy's current bipolar behavior, and almost (almost) missing the usual angry insults he would have received in retort. It was just that Naruto wasn't the kid he knew if he wasn't bright and annoying and stupid and cheerful.

" There's something called 'words' in which you 'communicate' with, dumb ass."

Again, no reaction whatsoever. Instead, the blond stood up, grabbed his forgotten cup of coffee, and returned to his former seat against a tree. He wore a bored look, that was both protecting and utterly composed. But that was it.

Sasuke was slouched down near another tree, facing across from Naruto.

The latter sipped again and again at his coffee, and Sasuke wondered how he could stand it. He knew Naruto didn't care for it.

" What are you drinking coffee for, idiot?" Sasuke asked mildly, seeming uninterested in his own question while inwardly he was impatient to figure everything out.

Apparently deciding to start conversing like a normal human being, Naruto's eyes became more focused and he looked at Sasuke, his face a little more alert, more open.

" I need to keep awake," he said groggily.

The Uchiha raised an eyebrow. Naruto looked like he could use some sleep, sure, but now he was noticing how badly bloodshot his eyes were.

" Not that it's any of you damn business," he slurred peevishly, seeming to catch himself at the last moment. He couldn't willingly volunteer information or (God forbid) _answer a question_ for his rival without insulting him or being rude.

He added a weak "bastard" as an afterthought. He was trying really hard to be normal, but it was most frustrating that for whatever reason, his mind couldn't reign in the impulse to be civil.

Sasuke said nothing. Now it was really weird; Naruto seemed to be undedicated in shouting insults at him. There was definitely something wrong, but then, it was already visible from the way Naruto looked like hell, and was still a little shaky.

" What did you see in that genjutsu anyway?" Sasuke asked, now genuinely interested in what could have rattled Naruto so much. Not that he gave a rat's ass about his condition...

Naruto flinched so noticeable that Sasuke became even more intrigued.

" Nigh'mm–– " he cut himself off, looking startled. " It's nothing," he muttered harshly, frowning.

Something seemed to click in Sasuke's mind. Needing to keep awake, the coffee, his demeanor of half-wakefulness, his reaction to something fear-related in a genjutsu...it all added up, all came together so perfectly.

Naruto was having nightmares.

Hah. Nightmares? Was that all? Was that the whole reason Naruto was chugging down that disgusting crap called coffee, just so he could stay awake all night? It certainly explained the bags under his eyes.

He guessed it explained the way Naruto had acted, too. Sasuke thought back to the way he'd been screaming; it was such a horrible sound. And suddenly, the nightmares didn't seem like a trifling something.

" Nightmares. You saw them in the genjutsu. And they're enough to keep you from sleeping." Sasuke half asked, half stated, not feeling like avoiding the point.

Naruto looked at Sasuke blankly before scrunching up his face in anger. Some life ignited back into his eyes, and he glared, surprisingly well considering his zombie-like features.

" _I'm not having nightmares_, bastard, never said I was. Mind your own business!"

" Your defensiveness just told me you _are_."

Naruto actually managed a snarl. " Shut the hell up, Sasuke."

Not only were the overreactions jarring in themselves, but the raw hurt and anger written all over his teammate's face only egged Sasuke on to get the truth.

" What could be so bad about your nightmares, you big moron. What could be so bad that you would give up sleep to avoid them and start screaming...like that? What could be so--"

" Everything!" Naruto yelled, exploding at last. " Everything is bad about them, bastard! Every time I close my eyes there's horror and death and destruction and _pain_. You look so _damn_ smug right now, but tell me, hasn't the _Great Uchiha_ had his fair share of nightmares? With how messed up you are? Hah!" Naruto ended his triad, his last note mocking and angry all at once. He breathed heavily, something white and hot tearing through his veins.

" Interesting," Sasuke muttered, glaring at Naruto. " Can't take a question or two about dreams? Have to resort to childish tactics to make yourself feel better?" he hissed out.

The only thing Naruto had to say was spoken in a low growl, almost feral, his scratchy voice adding to the raw quality. _" They are not __**dreams**__."_

When Sasuke only offered a pinning glare, Naruto grunted, and then stood up. He started pacing.

" Leave it to an Uchiha to have no _manners_, leave it to a guy like you to have no _clue,_" Naruto grit out frustratingly. He stomped in his rut once more before sinking to the ground, running a hand through messy hair.

" Keep glaring if you want," the blond uttered, his voice softer, but no less hard. " But no more talking; just keep your damned mouth shut."

" Yeah that'll be the day, Naruto, when I listen to you."

At the tired, almost desperate look his teammate gave him, Sasuke said not a word more, and indeed, kept glaring instead.

Silence ensued, neither nor willing to break the thickness that surrounded them.

Inspecting Naruto further, as he had nothing better to do, was annoying. Naruto was slumped across from him, his body looking limp, his eyes half lidded and dark, and his whole face mimicking a ghoulish wraith's features. It was annoying, annoying that something could be so wrong with Naruto.

Some time went by, and then Sasuke shifted.

" You should drink some water, that coffee isn't the best thing to have," the older boy ventured irefully, not sure why it mattered.

A sigh escaped parched lips. Sasuke matched him, letting loose a breath of his own.

" Look, if your scrawny ass can't get up, I'll drag you."

" I'm fine."

A few minutes later, they were in front of a small, rippling stream, which flowed contentedly, mocking the sober atmosphere.

Naruto bent over, cupping his hands, and almost inhaling the cool, crisp water. He drank and drank some more, splashing his face, and dunking his head, too. Once satisfied, he leant back, sitting cross legged. Sasuke was somewhere close to him, and together, they watched the ebb and flow of the water.

" I never counted on you being such a big baby about it, but I won't bother you about your nightmares," Sasuke said into the silence, voice seeming dull and sarcastic to the untrained ear.

The blond frowned. " It doesn't matter anymore. I'm just tired, and you're annoying."

" Idiot."

" Bastard."

And just like that, all was forgiven.

They sat there for a really long time, until Naruto groaned.

" All I want to do is sleep." The blond attempted to pick up some normalcy, start complaining and bitching like he always did instead of yelling and freaking out. Besides, there was no use hiding anymore. Sasuke knew.

" Then sleep," Sasuke replied listlessly.

Naruto let out a dark chuckle. " When are those slow pokes coming back? And damn it, when is this day going to be over?"

Idly, Sasuke thought _if you're going to stay awake all night, the day can't finish._

" Hm."

" Yeah. I don't know either."

Naruto drifted off, the world seeming dampened and quiet and lulling. For all the caffeine in his body, there seemed to be just ten more particles of him that wanted nothing but to sleep.

His eyes would close, slowly, slowly, trying to prolong the moment. Because as soon as his vision went black, he jumped, and snapped his lids open again. It was a process, a repeated routine that got old fast. It was uncomfortable, and possibly the worst form of self-inflicted torture he could think of.

It was getting to a point where he could hardly think straight. Where he could hardly concentrate. He blamed everything on Sasuke.

That bastard, that stupid know-it-all who thought he was the greatest guy on earth; Sasuke was the reason he couldn't sleep. Sasuke was the reason he hadn't been able to sleep, hadn't allowed himself to sleep, for the past two nights.

The blond had no idea why seeing his rival bloodied, dying and broken shocked him with such fear and pain. He didn't know why, in the nightmares, Sasuke's final breath was always spent saying Naruto's name. He didn't know much, really. All he knew was that the nightmares made his chest hurt so terribly, he thought he might wither away from poor circulation.

He tried to tell himself it wasn't real, but it didn't seem to make much of a difference. Maybe he was just going crazy, letting his nightmares haunt him so deeply. But he was reminded of all the times Sasuke could've died. The one time he'd thought Sasuke actually was dead, and, _oh._

Ow. He resisted the urge to clutch at his breast, because he knew he was just imagining the steely grip around his vital organ. But he didn't stop his hand from rubbing furiously at his forehead. Great, he thought. A headache.

He groaned, leaning back until his spine hit the soft soil and grass. He spread his legs out, and dragged an arm over his eyes. Now, if only he could sleep.

But just thinking about his nightmares, unfortunately, had left him with a solid resolve to _not _fall asleep. Naruto groaned again.

" What is it now?" Sasuke demanded.

" Do you...really wanna know what my nightmares are about?" Naruto spoke, his eyes protesting at the inviting darkness.

Sasuke didn't say anything.

" You die. Each time." It really was horrible. Sometimes Sasuke's death was epic and theatrical, almost comical so it doesn't seem real, and Naruto wants to laugh because it's a joke, but the sound is always trapped in his throat, and it suffocates him. Sometimes Sasuke would just fall; in a controlled way as if he were just exhausted from sparring, but then he wouldn't get up. Then, there are the times when his body is snapped sickeningly by some invisible enemy, or lacerated or smashed or utterly destroyed and he's disfigured and bloody and there's nothing Naruto can do. Nothing he can do but scream and cry and try and block out the seeping, overwhelming horror that always manages to smother him. There's nothing he can ever do to prevent anything, and he's never given the chance to save Sasuke.

There was nothing but silence to greet Naruto's short confession. He kept his arm over his eyes, and sighed. He probably shouldn't have said anything, but he just couldn't _think_ properly.

Finally, there was a voice in the air.

" You moron. Do me a favor and sit up." The voice in the air, currently, sounded very rough and almost angry.

Painstakingly, Naruto actually did what the voice said. Blearily, he blinked the accumulating sleep out of his eyes to look at a prickly Sasuke.

" What?" he groused, in automatic retaliation to Sasuke's mood.

Directly after that word left the blond's mouth, Sasuke was in front of him. He'd scrambled over so that he was sitting close to Naruto. Then he reached his hand out and gripped the back of Naruto's head. He brought him down to eye level and glared at him really murderously. They were so close now, that their breath fanned out and mingled.

Naruto registered a little late that their foreheads were pressed together as well.

" Listen, I don't care _what_ your nightmares are about. If it's me dying in some bloody heap or Kakashi chopping up a bunny. It's not real, you exponentially dense moron. Not freaking real. No matter how many times I've died in your freaky little head, it's not going to happen any time soon. So get that through your skull and get some damn sleep, because if I have to deal with a half-dead teammate tomorrow on our mission, I will make sure that you're _wholly-dead._"

Sasuke's hand was sort of tugging Naruto's hair sharply, to make him pay attention or express his annoyance or both. It kind of, sort of felt nice, though. Comforting, in a way. Naruto could feel the hand's warmth, and it just another reassurance of Sasuke's words. Sasuke was alive, alive and warm and breathing and _here_.

Naruto gave Sasuke a funny look. A small, thankful smile. His own hand slowly touched Sasuke's head too, fingers curling in his hair. Just as Sasuke was about to comment on the action, Naruto's hand went limp. Along with the rest of his body.

He fell forward softly, his head finding a cushion in Sasuke's chest, the sudden shift knocking him off balance.

" Oof."

The idiot was sleeping. Not only that, but he was sleeping _on_ Sasuke. God. What a damn idiot. Well, he was sure this would look really weird.

In a passing of some very slow seconds, Sasuke chose to ignore what Naruto's reactions to his nightmares might mean. If they were all about him dying, and Naruto avoided sleep to avoid those nightmares, what did that say about Naruto, and the way he valued Sasuke? He chose to ignore further thoughts and just about everything else that seemed to surface regarding that.

He also chose to ignore contemplations of why Naruto's warmth felt nice and right. He chose to vehemently ignore that train of thought. He even ignored the way Naruto's arm was draped over his shoulder, while the other tucked close to his body, grabbing at the fabric of his shirt.

Instead he was just thinking about getting Naruto off of him. He was thinking of it, and not really doing any acting on those thoughts, and then he heard a cut off screech.

" S-Sasuke?!" came Sakura's distressed, horrified voice.

Yeah, it looked really weird after all, didn't it?

He sighed. He belatedly tried to move his would-be-tender hands from their resting place on Naruto.

" So. Have a nice time, Sasuke?"

The Uchiha frowned, annoyed. The look was slightly put off by the way he was laying underneath an open-mouthed, lightly snoring, clutching Naruto Just like Sasuke was a big body pillow. " Look, he just fell asleep. It's not my fault."

" Yeah," Kakashi said in a light tone. "And exactly how did you come to be in that position?"

* * *

[EDIT] Sweet Zeus. So, this used to be a former 'Nightmares.' Now it's new. Well, ridiculously revamped. When I re-read what this USED to be, I swear I almost committed ritual suicide. I would have just left it, but I couldn't bring myself to do that. So I went back and intended to do some light editing and just make things better....but

I ended up re-working almost everything. I kept very little of the original. Very, very little. Same idea though: Naruto's having nightmares about Sasuke dying. That's about all that stayed the same. I really think it's better now, and I love it ten times more. I deleted the old story so I'd bring attention to this once again. Aha, tell me what you think, whether you think you may have read something like this before, or you're a new reader! [/EDIT]

A sad attempt at humor towards at the end, I know. This idea came to me, in the early hours of the morning, as I lay in my bed. I apologize now for an OOCness. Anyhow, don't forget to leave a review! They keep me alive!

Love,  
Kyla


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